I know these days one can't easily trust whatever you see online, whether it is rumors, images, news, or even personalities.
But it doesn't mean one can't find genuine good friendships online.
I once had a friend online on Facebook.
She claimed to be a South African. Although I never believed or trusted that she was telling the truth, I didn't even believe it was her.
I didn't know who was behind the account, but we chatted for over a week every day. Discussing random things like opinions, daily life, movies, music and so on. And it all started with a hey.
I remember our conversations were always simple and refreshing, no drama or any bad energy.
Now, when you ask me if I can use that kind of online friendship, which was nice and even felt better than some physical friendships, to replace face-to-face friendships?
Nope… I don't think it would be wise to think that way.
Even though the friendship online might seem cool, light, and genuine (because I also admit they feel lighter because they are casual, unlike friendships with deeper emotional work), the online friendship most times still lacks things that are essential for a well-defined friendship, for example, trust.
I think trust is the major thing that online friendship lacks. Some face-to-face friendships still lack trust, but online friendship lacks trust on such a huge scale, and have a good reason for being as such; in fact, I would say it has a wise reason for being that way.
Every day, we see people get scammed online. Some people have their lives turned upside down the moment they meet the wrong friends online.
And it's that way because social media is a place where anyone with the right means can be whoever they want to be.
People sit behind screens and live fake lives. Trusting easily wouldn't be smart.
People say what they don't mean online, but in real life they can't back it up. Someone can profess love to someone so many times, but in real life, it's the exact opposite or maybe just exaggerated online.
Also, online friendships are just too easy to end. Just like how the girl who claimed she was South African online, I became friends with just disappeared one day.
I stopped getting any replies, and she never came back online, and God knows what actually happened. I couldn't even find myself stressing because, for all I know, the entire thing could have been a big lie.
I think it's easy to form relationships when you are convinced it is real, and in this case, the only way to get enough confirmation is face-to-face.
With all these, I think online friendship would never be enough to replace face-to-face friendship. They are just so different. And there is no way an online friendship would be the same as a face-to-face friendship because online people can make you see only what they want you to see easily, but face-to-face, there are some things that cannot be hidden.
In conclusion, I think online friendships can be made to be easier to handle, but most times they can not be as real or true as face-to-face friendships.
